Pure Bliss

Hello all! last time we spoke i had a very short post, letting everyone know that aryssa was coming home. i can't believe that was a week ago already. here is how the day went. i was at work and i knew that she was going to be able to come home soon, but didn't know when soon was going to be. well tuesday the NICU dr called me and said that i should bring in her car seat so that they could do the car seat test during the night tuesday. the car seat test is done to preemies to see if they can handle sitting upright in a car seat for 90 straight minutes. since preemies are so small sometimes with them sitting upright there lungs gets smooshed and they have trouble maintaining their oxygen and breathing while being in the car seat. anyway the NICU dr told me to bring in the car seat so they can do the test so that when she is ready to leave she can leave. that made my heart pound knowing that was another thing checked off the list of "things to do before going home" so like normal grant and i went to the 730pm feeding and said good night to our baby girl and wished her luck on her car seat test. my plan for wednesday was to go to the 1030am feeding since they have rounds on wednesday mornings from 8-9am and no one is allowed to visit due to them talking loudly about all the patients, they want to protect every ones rights. so i was sitting at work and my cell phone started to ring.(at 930am) i was doing some work, so i ignored the call. as soon as i was done with the patient i listened to the message and it was Nicole Aryssa's NICU nurse that day. well my heart started pounding, but i didn't want to get too excited since on tuesday the NICU dr called me and just needed to ask me some questions. so i immediately call Nicole back and she said "so your plan is to come to aryssa's 1030am feeding right?" i say yes... Nicole " would you like to take aryssa home with you?" me-"OMG are you serious? i'm going to cry" well nicole goes on to say that the pharmacy needs to get a shot up to them and they have 4 hours from the time they request it. so nicole told me to get everything i needed to get done and come to her 130pm feeding and then we would go over all the discharge papers and we could take aryssa home.
i immediately ran to dr jamies adjusting room and said we get to take her home!!!! it was an amazing feeling. then i called grant... he answered and all i said was "are you ready daddy?" he was sooo excited. i told him to finish what ever he needed to at work since we couldn't get her until 130 anyway. he said " no i can't sit here knowing we can get her, i am leaving." so yeah 10 minutes later grant was out the door and on his way home. I worked until 1130, i think mainly to keep my mind busy i am not one to sit around and knew i would go crazy sitting at home just waiting. plus i had stuff i needed to get done at work since my maternity leave started then. so then i went home and grant and i hugged... and kinda stared at each other in awe that we were going to bring our baby home. we finished up some stuff at the house in preparation of her coming home, and then at 110 we left to bring her home.
we got to the hospital and went over the important information, make sure she is eating, don't shake the baby, and enjoy. so by 230 we walked out of the NICU with our daughter! when we got home we just stared at her, in disbelief that she was home and healthy. the rest of the day we cuddled, let her sleep and rest on her big day, and rocked in the recliner.
We are loving having our little girl home. the first night was a little rough... what was that noise... is she breathing... oh a little whine she must be starving! lol needless to say we all took naps on thursday :) our nights have been sooo much better now, i know that a little whine means nothing, but a good cry will mean she will eat more and sleep more. aryssa eats every 3-4 hours. she is getting better and better at nursing, but still gets pretty tired after she nurses. so if i know she didn't nurse too well, or am worried about the amount she could have gotten, then i pump and give her a bottle, so i know exactly the amount she is getting, and then i feel better knowing that she is still eating a good amount. she is up to amount 2 1/2 ounces from the bottle, but sometimes leaves the extra half in the bottle. all depends on her mood i guess.
i can't believe the joy that both grant and i feel, it is amazing to wake up and look at my baby in our room, to have her home is just .... words can't explain.
we had a dr's visit on monday, and would you believe Aryssa was... 5lbs 14 oz and 19 inches!!!
at birth she was 5 lbs 4 oz 10/30/09
at discharge from the NICU 5lbs 8.3oz 11/11/09
then at the dr 5lbs 14 oz 11/16/09
When she was discharged the NICU dr said that a good weight gain is 1 oz per day. well miss aryssa doesn't seem to be having a problem with that! and already grew 1/2 an inch!! goodness she is growing.
her next dr visit is 11/30/09 so we will see how much she grows by then.
Here is the link to my facebook photos again, i have all of her since we were home pics after the hospital pics.
well i am going to spoil my baby a little more now, she is currently in my moby wrap (thanks amanda) and cuddling on my chest.... i could stare at her all day long!